New car could serve as a halo product for the brand but would need to be “really different” to stand out, says boss
Peugeot is “thinking about” launching a model positioned above its flagship 5008, boss Alain Favey has told Autocar.
But to be successful, “it would need to be something really different” so it could stand out against rivals, he said, referencing the difficulties the axed 508 had in a segment that included premium offerings such as the Audi A4 and BMW 3 Series.
He explained: “We had the 508, which we stopped six months ago. It just shows the difficulty of having a car – [despite it having] a really credible offer – for a brand like Peugeot, because obviously in this segment you will have a lot of more premium brands being extremely successful.”
Asked what form a new Peugeot flagship could take, Favey admitted that “I don’t know” but added that the firm has the ability to dip into the Stellantis parts bin and “look at what is possible”.
He continued: “If ever we’re tempted to do that, it would need to be something really different, and I don’t know what that is. So are we thinking about it? Yes.”
Although there is no “concrete plan” today, “we have to also be conscious” of not overloading the Peugeot line-up, said Favey.
As such, he warned that one of the car’s stumbling blocks could be that it gets lost within the line-up as the “difficulty we have is to advertise everything”, referring to the lack of noise made about the 408, despite it being “great advertising for Peugeot, because the car turns your head”.
He asked, therefore, is “it not more reasonable to focus on what we do well, which is B- and C-segment cars? That’s why I hesitate. Even though I would love to [launch such a car]”.
